REST APIs: Pick Your Flavor

REST APIs: Pick Your Flavor

You ever notice how building REST APIs feels a bit like standing at an ice cream shop? You’ve basically got the same ingredients (HTTP, JSON, a database somewhere), but the way you scoop and serve it can vary a lot. Developers — myself included — tend to ping-pong between a few common “flavors” of REST APIs. Let’s take a look.

1. The

Classic Gatekeeper

This is the “vanilla cone” of APIs. You’ve got a database. You’ve got controllers. You expose endpoints like /customers or /orders. When people or systems want data, they knock on your door, and you decide if they get one scoop, two scoops, or no scoops at all.

• Why use it? It’s simple, predictable, and easy to explain. You own the data and decide who can see or change it.

• Where you’ll see it: CRUD apps, internal line-of-business systems, most public APIs.

• Fun factor: Feels like running the front desk at a hotel. You check IDs, hand out room keys, and keep the lights on.

2. The

Event-Driven Distributor

Here’s where it gets a little fancier. Instead of sitting behind the desk all day, you set up a giant speaker system (Kafka, Event Hub, RabbitMQ — take your pick). Whenever something happens (a customer signs up, an order is placed), you announce it to the whole room. Whoever’s listening can subscribe and do their own thing.

• Why use it? Decoupling. Scalability. Everyone gets data without having to constantly knock on your door.

• Where you’ll see it: Enterprises, telecoms, financial services, anywhere systems need to share events fast.

• Fun factor: Like being a DJ at a wedding — you drop the beats (events), and different groups of people dance however they want.

3. The

Aggregator / Gateway

Sometimes you don’t own the data or the events. Instead, you’re the person who runs around collecting ice cream from other shops and hands it out in neat little packages. You call other APIs, stitch their responses together, and present it like a single unified menu.

• Why use it? To hide complexity. To provide one face for many systems.

• Where you’ll see it: API Gateways, BFFs (Backend-for-Frontend), microservices that serve a UI.

• Fun factor: Feels like being the Uber Eats driver of data — you don’t cook, you deliver.

4. The

Hybrid Blender

This is when people can’t decide if they want vanilla, chocolate, or a sundae — so they throw it all into the blender. You’ve got REST endpoints, but behind them you’re also publishing to Kafka. You’ve got a gateway pattern that also stores things in a DB.

• Why use it? Because real life is messy. Enterprises rarely stick to one pattern.

• Where you’ll see it: Pretty much everywhere that’s been around for more than five years.

• Fun factor: Like a smoothie — you’re not quite sure what’s in there, but it works.

5. The

GraphQL / Query Buffet

(Bonus Flavor)

Okay, this isn’t REST, but it’s part of the same conversation. Instead of serving fixed endpoints, you put out a buffet table and let clients grab exactly what they want.

• Why use it? Flexibility. Clients shape the data, not the server.

• Where you’ll see it: Modern front-end heavy apps, startups trying to optimize API calls.

• Fun factor: Feels like a Vegas buffet — great when you know what you want, overwhelming when you don’t.

So… Which One?

The industry isn’t really picking a “winner.” Instead, it’s like choosing your ice cream depending on your mood (or your architecture).

• Need simplicity? Go Gatekeeper.

• Need scale and decoupling? Go Event-Driven.

• Need to hide a mess? Be the Aggregator.

• Can’t decide? Hybrid away.

Bottom line: REST APIs aren’t one-size-fits-all. They’re more like your favorite scoop shop — a few standard flavors, endless mix-ins. The trick is knowing what your team and your systems are hungry for today.